Dylan rolled the paper back up and looked to where Ben lay, still not letting himself cry.

"I understand" he uttered into the silence. Ben stayed staring at the light strip above him, unmoving and refusing to show any form of emotion.

"How?" he croaked, swallowing back tears still.

"Believe it or not, I think we've had similar childhoods…"

Ben sat up. "Sorry."

"You have nothing to apologise for Ben, but I think we should take this to Ms Beauchamp. You're right in suspecting abuse, is there anything you can show me physically?"

"Don't you believe me?"

"I do believe you, physical evidence would aid us further…" Dylan trailed off as Ben turned and lifted his gown over his head, revealing his back and sides to the doctor.

Dylan shut his eyes.

"I know it's disgusting" Ben pulled his gown back down and turned to face Dylan, and Dylan opened his eyes, looking at the young teenage boy.

"Never be disgusted by what it looks like. Looks are looks. Be disgusted by the person who did it to you, and the actions they took out on you. Be disgusted by their mind-set and beliefs in hurting you, but never, ever be disgusted by your physicality. Scars are scars Ben, I promise they aren't disgusting."

Ben looked down. "Sorry for causing so much trouble…"

"I think you'll find it's your mother who caused the trouble here, Ben" Dylan spat the word 'mother' with contempt, before placing an arm around the boy's shoulders to help him up. "Let's get you to Miss Beauchamp" he affirmed, and felt a blanket of pride drop over him when Ben didn't fight back, but simply nodded, pressing some of his weight against Dylan. Dylan didn't mind.

There was already an idea brewing in Dylan's mind as they sat in Ms. Beauchamp's office, Ben on the chair next to Dylan's fidgeting and fiddling with his hands, the anxiety clear in his expression.

Ms. Beauchamp looked up from reading the small roll of paper and sighed sadly. "How long has this been going on for Ben?"

"Since… since I can remember" he whispered.

"We need to call social services and the police as long as his mother is still on site!" Ms. Beauchamp stood and grabbed the phone dialling the number for social services. "Dylan, can you get through to an on-site police officer please? Ben, we need you to stay here…"

Dylan stood, pulling his pager from his back pocket and holding his finger down on the emergency button.

Ben stood and moved over to the door, to avoid the anxious clenching in his throat. He was seeing stars as he took another step backwards, a mixture of hunger and panic getting the back of him. He'd told someone, there was no taking it back. Now he'd be put in care, in the horrible homes his mother spoke of, where everyone was ignored and moved around between "families" without their own lives being taken into consideration.

"Police are on their way here" Dylan uttered softly to Ben who had shrunk down into a corner as Ms. Beauchamp hung up the phone. "Ben dear" He crouched down beside the shaking boy, "I need you to take some deep breaths for me…" He trailed off as the boy's eyes widened at the sound of shouts coming from outside. "Ben it's okay, security will deal with it… Wait here…" Dylan stood and followed Connie out the room to find the source of the commotion.

Ben shook his head. He couldn't panic now, he had to be strong for Dr Keogh; it would be all his fault if he got hurt, if he hadn't told anyone, his mum's voice wouldn't be ringing out across the ED.

Shakily, Ben took to his feet, wiping his palms against the jeans he'd been allowed to change back into. Taking a deep breath, he clicked open the door handle, only to gasp inwardly at the chaos.

His mother was standing by reception, wielding a lighter. Her once neat hair was raked through by her fingers as people ducked while she span.

"Give me back my daughter!" she screamed. Kicking out as a white-haired nurse tried to get closer to her, she sent him crashing back into a pile of boxes, smacking his head on the floor as Ben had many times before when she'd shoved him too hard.

Desperately, Ben scanned the ED looking for Dr Keogh and nearly screamed when he saw how close he was getting to his mother.

Letting out a guttural scream, Dylan jumped at Ben's mother, causing the lighter to be knocked out her hand as she went slamming onto the ground, him landing on top of her.

"Bad move" she spat, kneeing him in-between his legs and spinning him over onto his back with speed. She was a swift package of muscle, disguised by her dainty office clothing. As he went down, Dylan could have sworn he smelt alcohol, but was unsure as he tried to right his vision quickly enough to see Ben sprint across the ED and throw Dylan out of the way.

"You little shit!" Julia hissed, shoving Ben backwards as she stood. She grabbed him by his upper arm and twisted it, grinning as he squealed in pain, whimpering as a fresh bruise blossomed around his left eye. Dylan stood and tore Ben away from his mother, his heart breaking at the pain the boy was in.

"Don't ever touch him again!" he roared pulling Ben backwards towards the sanctuary of the staffroom as the police closed in around Julia.

Ben whimpered, not letting go of Dylan's arm in his panic, desperate for even the smallest sense of security.

"It's okay Ben" Dylan mumbled, directing him towards the sofa.

15 minutes later, Miriam, the social worker, entered the staffroom followed by Connie. Ben was leant up against Dylan, his knees curled into his chest as he dozed gently; he was comforted both by the hoodie David had dropped over his thin frame when he'd found the tow, and by Dylan's hold around his back, carefully keeping him from falling.

Dylan knew what he had to do, as did David. They'd both been through the adoption process together just over a year ago when they got married as they'd agreed it was something they wanted to do.

It didn't take long to sign the forms.

Stepping out of the ED, Dylan turned to face his adopted son, David on the other side of him.

"So" Dylan smiled, "Which papers d'you want signing?"

"Wha…?"

"For your transition."

"My… really?"

"You are you and you'll always be you, Ben. There's no two ways about it, and however you'll be most comfortable is how I want you to be. So whatever papers you need signing, I'll sign them without a second thought."

"Thank you" Lofty looked down, twisting his hands in amongst each other.

"Let's go home you two" David spoke over their shared look, taking his partners hand, who wrapped an arm around Ben's shoulders as they walked in the direction of the port. Ben flinched instinctually, but shrugged it off, leaning into Dylan a little more.

"You ok, my boy?" Dylan asked.

Ben smiled, "Yeah… thank you Dr Keogh…"

"Call me Dylan, and that's David"

"Thank you Dylan"

Dylan smiled and squeezed David's hand as they both watched their adopted son smiling too. It couldn't have gone better.